At FoodHQ our mission is to grow food and beverage innovation by connecting the science and business of food.
Building on the rich history of food and agricultural research dating back to the formation of Massey Agricultural College in 1926, FoodHQ was established in 2013.
FoodHQ is a world-class food science and innovation hub headquartered in Manawatu, New Zealand with funding partners representing leaders in science, education and business. Our critical mass attracts the world’s smartest food science minds and international investment.
Management
Dr Victoria Hatton
CEO
victoria@foodhq.com, 027 538 5338
Victoria has fifteen years’ experience working in climate change, bridging the divide between science, policy and advocacy. She is a net zero strategist, passionate about our agriculture and food system. Victoria joins FoodHQ from the Sustainability and Climate Change team at PwC. Her experience includes leading ambitious climate action for both the UK and NZ government’s, a stint at the UN FAO in Rome working on livestock mitigation and managing the international operations at the NZ Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. Earlier in her career, Victoria spent five years leading research, development, policy and strategy teams at Massey University.
Board
Mark Piper
Chief Executive, Plant & Food Research, Board Chair mark@plantandfood.co.nz
Mark has spent 30 years in the primary industry, most recently with Fonterra, and has held roles across manufacturing, IT, and supply chain before moving to Tokyo for three years to manage technical engagement with customers and then a further five years in Chicago where Mark was Regional Director for North America overseeing around $1.8b of activity across multiple countries and customers.
Mark returned to New Zealand in 2016 and has been based in Palmerston North as an innovation leader since 2017.
Ray Geor
Pro Vice-Chancellor College of Sciences, Massey University
Ray leads College activity across agriculture and environment, veterinary and biomedical sciences, natural and fundamental sciences, and engineering.
He is an internationally recognised veterinary and agricultural science specialist with clinical and research interests in equine medicine, nutrition and exercise science.
SUE BIDROSE
Chief Executive, AgResearch
Sue has extensive experience in local and central government and in the not-for-profit sector. She has a doctorate in Psychology, looking at the impact of trauma on young children’s development.
Her first job out of school, though, was a laboratory technician looking at metabolic diseases of dairy cattle, which set the ground for her return to the science sector when she joined AgResearch in July 2020 as the first woman CEO of any of the seven Crown Research Institutes.
Pierre Venter
Director, Research and Development, Fonterra
Pierre is currently the Director R&D Centre (acting) for Fonterra, and has over 20 years of R&D leadership experience in multinational environments. During his career he has built a reputation for transformation, operations optimisation, innovative strategic thinking, working with the highest level of integrity, and a deep passionate commitment to product leadership culture and people development. He began his career as a Professor of Food Safety Microbiology in Africa, and is also a member of several international food industry advisory panels and governance platforms.
GIL MERON
CEO, Sprout Agritech
Gil is an experienced agri and food technology investor, with experience in R&D, management and governance. Gil has a BSc in computer science and in electronics engineering from Tel Aviv University, and a MBA from London Business School.
He worked for IBM and the Boston Consulting Group, but left the corporate world in search of a "do good do well" career in clean and agri and food tech investment and recently moved to New Zealand to manage Sprout Agritech.
Chris Dyhrberg
Chief Customer Officer, PNCC
Chris is the Chief Customer Officer at Palmerston North City Council, responsible for the regulatory, customer and community facing divisions across Council. Chris came to Council after a long career in corporate organisations, predominantly in telecommunication, with executive roles in Telecom, Spark, and Chorus, and senior leadership roles in companies working in the electricity, health and civil construction sectors. He holds degrees in law and finance from Otago University, is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors, and a director of Electra Ltd.
FoodHQ is a world class food science
and innovation hub
headquartered in Manawatu.
